Eastway Primary School

Eastway Primary School Eastway, Rossell Way, Moreton, Wirral, CH46 8TA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The issue raised by the last inspection, to close the gap between boys’ and girls’ attainment in Key Stage 1, has been addressed effectively.  Pupils achieve well from their starting points on entry which are generally below those typical for their age.  In the early years, all groups of children make consistently good progress. This good progress continues throughout the school.  Progress in reading is consistently strong.  Teaching over time in most subjects, including English and mathematics, is good. As a result, most pupils achieve well.  The school’s processes for tracking pupils’ progress in Key Stages 1 and 2 have helped to raise standards in English and mathematics.    Behaviour is good and pupils feel safe at school.  The school curriculum supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural understanding well.  Attendance has improved and is now in line with the national average.  The school’s strategies to manage pupils’ behaviour

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

within the two designated provisions are exemplary. As a result, pupils in these units make at least good progress over time.  Teaching and achievement are continuing to improve due to the inspiration and drive of the headteacher, supported by the expertise of the capable senior leadership team.  The governing body knows the school well and actively supports and challenges it to improve further.  The majority of parents believe that the school provides a good education for their children.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In both key stages, pupils’ achievement in writing and mathematics is not as strong as that seen in reading.  The most-able pupils do better in reading than they do in mathematics and writing.  Teachers’ marking does not always give pupils clear feedback about what they have done well or guidance about how to move forward.  Routines for sharing resources and staff expertise when children move from pre-school to nursery could be improved.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed 14 lessons and part-lessons, two of which were joint observations with the headteacher. Inspectors also visited the pre-school provision and resource base provision.  Inspectors observed many aspects of the school’s work, including the support for pupils who need extra help. They listened to pupils read and had discussions with pupils to establish their views of the school. Inspectors examined pupils’ work in their exercise books and on display in classrooms and around the school.  Inspectors looked at a range of documents. These included: records of behavioural incidents including bullying, the tracking of individual pupils’ progress, the school’s plan for improvement, the use of additional funding for supporting pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, the impact of the primary school sport funding, safeguarding and child protection arrangements and pupils’ attendance

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Information about this inspection

records.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, the early years leader, the special educational needs coordinator and middle managers. A discussion was held with eight governors, including the deputy Chair of the Governing Body, and with a local authority adviser.  Inspectors evaluated the views of parents. Informal discussions were conducted with parents who visited the school. An evaluation was made of the 22 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) alongside 109 responses to a questionnaire conducted by the school at its recent parents’ evenings.  The views of staff were considered through 30 staff questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Prydwen Elfed-Owens, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The majority of pupils are White British.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils known to be eligible for additional funding through the pupil premium is considerably higher than in most other schools. ‘Disadvantaged pupils’ is the term used to describe pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those children in local authority care.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is considerably higher than in other schools.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also higher than the national average.  The numbers of pupils who join the school at different times than normally expected is lower than the national average.  In 2013, the school met the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.  The school has local authority-designated resource base provision for pupils with speech, language and communication and learning difficulties.  Since the summer term 2014, a pre-school nursery has been established on site for two-year-olds.  A breakfast club and after-school club are run by the school.  During the first day of the inspection, most of the Year 6 pupils were out of school on a residential visit.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching from good to outstanding, in order to lift pupils’ achievement in writing and mathematics to be in line with the higher standards seen in reading, by:  sharing and learning from the excellent practice that already exists in the school  ensuring that feedback and marking for all pupils is clear and acknowledges how successful they have been and what they need to do to improve further  ensuring there is always sufficient challenge for the most-able pupils  doing more to share resources and staff expertise between pre-school and nursery to ensure that children benefit from the best possible experiences.

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The leadership and management are good

 The strong leadership of the headteacher, together with that of the newly promoted deputy headteacher, have ensured that the school continues to move forward. They are supported by an effective senior leadership team and a committed governing body. Consequently, the school’s overall effectiveness remains good and it is in a strong position to improve further.  The headteacher is recognised by the local authority as providing an excellent model of leadership.  The school leadership team, including middle leaders, regularly analyse pupils’ performance in detail and produce specific ‘target trackers’ for each class teacher. These provide a very useful guide to focus teaching on the needs of specific groups, such as boys, girls, disadvantaged pupils or the most able, with the aim of improving their attainment, specifically in writing and mathematics.  Staff are supportive of leaders’ aims and work together positively as a team, following a number of staff

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The leadership and management are good

changes and new responsibilities over the last two years.  The responses to all elements of the staff questionnaire provided by inspectors were positive, as were the comments made to the inspection team. In recent times, a number of teachers have been promoted to posts in other schools. The current staff includes of a number of newly appointed experienced teachers and newly qualified teachers. Staff deployment and teaching responsibilities have been reviewed, so as to make the best use of teachers’ experience and skills.  Arrangements to check teachers’ performance are linked to the school’s improvement priorities and staff pay. Presently, teaching staff are focused on raising standards even higher in writing and mathematics. The systems to support the training, development and deployment of teachers and teaching assistants are effective.  Pupils enjoy interesting experiences in all subjects. These provide good opportunities for them to use

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The leadership and management are good

and apply their reading, writing and mathematical skills in a variety of situations.  Plentiful opportunities are provided for pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development in daily learning. Pupils are encouraged to be reflective and to develop to their self-esteem through experiencing success in their learning. They are also helped to understand democratic processes, to apply reasoning and make choices, and to use their imagination and creativity.  Educational visits widen pupils’ horizons and, during this inspection, older pupils were full of enthusiasm when recounting their recent experiences at a residential activity centre.  The primary school sport funding has helped to increase pupils’ interest and participation in sports and develop their health and well-being. It has also widened the range of extra-curricular sport, as well as giving teachers training to build their confidence and expertise in different sports.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school values its good partnerships with parents and families. Parents have a high opinion of the school and value the liaison between home and school. The school website provides a good range of information for parents.  The breakfast- and after-school club provide pupils with opportunities to develop their social skills by taking part in various activities, such as dancing, outdoor activities, board games and baking.  The local authority is confident that the school is able to maintain and improve upon its current good performance with minimal external support.

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The governance of the school:

 The governing body is effective and very committed to the school. Governors provide good challenge to leaders and hold the school to account in a methodical and well-informed way.  Governors participate fully in checks on the school’s performance, including comparisons with other schools and national data.  Governors speak knowledgeably and accurately about pupils’ progress, the teaching profile, the school’s priorities, and the use of performance management systems to reward good teachers and tackle underperformance.  Governors have worked diligently to ensure that statutory requirements, including adequate safeguarding requirements, are in place.  School finances are spent wisely and governors pay appropriate attention to ensuring that additional funding for sport and for disadvantaged pupils has a positive impact on pupils’ achievement and well-being.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. This is evident in lessons, on the playground and at lunchtimes.  Pupils are clean and smart and classrooms are attractive and tidy.  Pupils are polite and sociable with visitors. During this inspection, they were forthcoming in conversations and were happy to share their views. They listen well to one another in partner and group discussions. Most stay involved in their tasks and are enthusiastic in their learning.  Pupils enjoy coming to school. This was confirmed by one pupil who said, ‘I like all the lessons we do, especially maths and our writing projects and I especially love our two girl guinea pigs.’  Most pupils are eager to learn and bring effort to their work. They speak enthusiastically about their learning in different subjects.  They say that good behaviour is typical of their school. This view is confirmed by pupils’ improved attendance and punctuality, by school records and inspection observations, and the views expressed by

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

staff and parents.  The school’s strategies to manage pupils’ behaviour within the two designated resource base provisions are highly effective and enable all pupils who attend the provision to make the most of the education they receive.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils have very good awareness of how to keep safe, for example, in relation to e-safety, road and water safety. Pupils are supervised well at all times and say they feel safe and happy at school.  Pupils report that incidents of bullying and name-calling are rare and say they are confident that adults in the school will quickly resolve any incidents that may occur. A Year 2 pupil said, ‘There is always someone there to help us and anyone who misbehaves is told off then they stop it straight away.’  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Across the school, and in the specialist resource base, the quality of teaching over time is good.  Teaching has continued to improve since the last inspection and this is why standards have risen. Work in pupils’ books, outcomes of the school’s checks, and the activities observed during the inspection show good progress.  Relationships are good and the mutual respect which exists between teachers and pupils aids learning.  The senior management team has issued new plans to each class teacher. These include specific targets for pupils and useful guidance for implementing the new National Curriculum and assessment arrangements. As yet, there has been insufficient time for these to embed fully to ensure that there is always the right amount of challenge in writing and mathematics, especially for the most able.  Teachers’ subject knowledge is good. A wide range of experiences, resources, books, interesting

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The quality of teaching is good

artefacts and interactive technology help make learning absorbing for pupils.  In most classes, teachers and teaching assistants work together well to create effective teams that support the needs of pupils. In Key Stage 1, a teaching assistant was observed using excellent questioning skills as she encouraged a group of pupils to investigate the properties of different materials in a ‘feely box’.  In another example in Year 2, the teacher’s deep understanding of how children learn led to an excellent learning opportunity. The pupils were invited to choose an aspect of Indian life which interested them most and they decided, democratically, to study Indian animals. They worked together to find out about the animals’ habitats, characteristics, food and lifestyles. They presented their findings enthusiastically to their peers and confidently answered their searching questions. The teacher’s excellent questioning skills enabled every pupil to benefit fully from the activity.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Similarly, in other classes, teachers’ very high expectations of pupils prompt some mature observations, comments and questions from the pupils. Nevertheless, on occasions the level of challenge provided for the most-able pupils could be higher.  While verbal exchanges can be of a high quality, across the school, marking and feedback do not always give pupils such relevant and accurate information about what they do well or clear information on how to move forward.  The school has revised its procedures for tracking pupils’ progress to ensure early identification of pupils’ needs and effective intervention, which includes good deployment of learning support staff to assist individual pupils who have particular learning needs.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in most subjects, including English and mathematics. This is due to good teaching, targeted input and specific intervention to support and challenge pupils of all abilities. As a result of this, pupils leave school at the end of Year 6 having reached standards in reading, writing and mathematics that are broadly in line with the national average. This represents good achievement from pupils’ starting points which, in many cases, are below the typical expectations for their age when they first start school.  Currently, pupils in Key Stage 1 are making faster progress and reaching higher standards than seen in recent years. One Year 1 pupil summed up her progress by saying, ‘Now I can do maths better, read better and do better spellings and I’m even starting to get better in my writing.’  The school’s processes for tracking pupils’ progress are very clear and strategies for supporting their

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The achievement of pupils is good

progress have been effective in raising standards in English and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2. Progress across Key Stage 2 is consistently good, the rate of learning having accelerated in recent times. Pupils’ progress in reading is particularly strong.  Pupils’ attainment in reading has risen noticeably over the last year because of the high profile it has been given. Pupils’ understanding of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) has improved. In Key Stage 2, pupils enjoy reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction books by a variety of authors. They read fluently and with intonation.  School leaders have worked successfully to close the gaps which existed between boys and girls in the last inspection. This is indicative of the school’s commitment to providing equality of opportunity for all.  Disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as their peers do in school in reading, and are approximately two

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The achievement of pupils is good

terms behind them in writing and mathematics. When compared with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally, the attainment gap is the same as that seen in school. The most recent unvalidated test results from 2014 and in-school data show that the gap in writing and mathematics is beginning to reduce.  Pupils with special educational needs, including those pupils receiving specialist help in the resource base, receive good support that meets their needs, and they do well.  Checks on pupils’ books and other evidence show that, like many other pupils, the most-able pupils reach higher standards in reading than they do in writing and mathematics. While attainment rose again in 2014, the most-able pupils are still not reaching the highest possible standards in their writing and mathematics.

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The early years provision is good

 Most children start school with a level of knowledge and skill below that typical for their age.  Children are well-behaved and happy within a safe environment.  Teachers place a strong emphasis on phonics to ensure that children recognise and sound out letters and words accurately.  Activities are carefully planned and children are well prepared for early reading activities when they enter Year 1.  Teaching assistants are trained and deployed well to support any specific learning needs.  Clear systems are in place for tracking progress and attainment and evidence shows that most children have reached age-related expectations in their reading when they start Year 1. In other areas of learning, they have started to catch up.  School leaders and the local authority representative agree that during the last two years the early years provision has been ‘revolutionised’ through the input of a specialist consultant. Consequently, the

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The early years provision is good

early years leadership team has been upskilled and the indoor and outdoor learning environments have been redeveloped to enhance children’s learning experiences.  Almost all children attend the newly opened on-site pre-school provision prior to entering the nursery class. The pre-school practitioners and the early years staff do share information at specific times in the school year. However, the routines for sharing resources and staff expertise when children move from pre-school to nursery are not yet sufficiently developed to enable pupils to benefit from sharing experiences together before they transfer.  Many informal opportunities are provided for parents to share their views about their child’s learning. These include regular ‘stay and play’ sessions where parents are encouraged to join their children in their various activities. A parents’ lending library is set up every Friday morning to encourage the

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The early years provision is good

enjoyment of books at home as well as at school.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is failing

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Grade Judgement Description

to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 105001 Local authority Wirral Inspection number 448269

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 2–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 221 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair A Bestwick Headteacher D Marchant Date of previous school inspection 9 June 2010 Telephone number 0151 677 1235 Fax number 0151 606 1619 Email address headteacher@eastway.wirral.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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